Lift systems are used in hospitals, other health care facilities, and sometimes in home care settings to move a patient from one location to another or to assist the patient in moving. A typical lift system includes a lift motor unit translatably mounted on a rail that extends along the ceiling of the room. The components of the lift motor unit include a battery and a motor. The motor is operably connected to a strap or tether that extends vertically downwardly from the lift motor unit. The lift system also includes a sling bar attached to the end of the tether remote from the motor. To use the lift system a caregiver secures a patient in a sling, attaches the sling to the sling bar, and uses a control device to operate the motor to lift the patient to a higher elevation or lower the patient to a lower elevation. In one typical example the caregiver operates the motor to raise the patient off a bed, pulls on the sling to cause the motor unit to translate along the rail until the patient is positioned over a desired destination location, and then operates the motor again to lower the patient to the destination.
Hospitals and other health care facilities also employ headwall units and footwall units, which are also referred to simply as headwalls and footwalls. A headwall is a collection of components arrayed along an architectural wall of a facility, in particular along a wall that neighbors the head end of a bed. A typical headwall includes headwall frame components and panels that are attachable to the frame components in such a way that the panels hide the headwall frame components. Some panels are functional in that they include fixtures such as electrical outlets, medical gas outlets, suction ports and lighting controls. Other panels may be purely decorative in order to help create an aesthetically pleasant environment. Headwalls may also include storage units such as cabinets or shelving. Headwalls may also include equipment supports which are typically secured to a frame component by fasteners that penetrate through a panel and connect with a frame element. A footwall is similar to a headwall but is disposed along an architectural wall which is remote from the head end of the bed and spaced from the foot end of the bed to accommodate pedestrians, such as caregivers, custodial staff and patient visitors. The footwall and its panels may also include many of the features and components of headwalls such as electrical outlets, lighting controls, cabinets, shelving, and equipment supports, but do not typically include clinical features such as gas outlets and suction ports. Example headwall and footwall units are further described in United States Patent Application Publication 2010/0095604, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
A facility governing body, such as a board of directors, may elect to renovate or upgrade patient rooms with new headwalls. The governing body may also choose to upgrade the footwalls at the same time. The governing body may also decide to include a lift system. However, the cost of procuring all three elements (headwall, footwall and lift system) can be prohibitive and the need to coordinate the acquisition and installation of the elements causes additional burden for the personnel responsible for capital improvements, particularly when the supplier of the lift system and the supplier of the headwall and footwall are different suppliers. Moreover, to the extent that lift system components such as the rail are secured to overhead structural components of the facility, there may be a need to relocate pre-existing elements of the facility infrastructure such as plumbing lines, electrical wires, sewage lines and HVAC ducts and/or to accommodate those elements by suboptimal positioning of the rail.